


Oh, Haven't You Heard?

by StaircaseScorpius



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: Banter, Book: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Cursed Child Gang, F/F, Friendship, Gen, Harry Potter Next Generation, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Compliant, Relationship Reveal, The Gang - Freeform, Truth or Dare, Yolly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-15
Updated: 2020-02-15
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:07:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22737754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StaircaseScorpius/pseuds/StaircaseScorpius
Summary: Polly, Yann, Craig, and Karl are making the most of their last night at Hogwarts when a game of truth or dare reveals something that's significantly more of a surprise to some of them than the others. Featuring bonfires, banter, and mud-fights.
Relationships: Polly Chapman & Yann Fredericks & Karl Jenkins & Craig Bowker Jr, Polly Chapman/Yann Fredericks
Kudos: 9





	Oh, Haven't You Heard?

It’s past two in the morning, it’s still warm out, and four heads are clustered around a small fire close to the lake, leaning in to catch each other’s expressions in the dark of the moonless night. 

It was Craig’s idea to ‘make the most’ of their last night at Hogwarts by staying up till dawn, but Karl who suggested the campfire at the lakeside. The pair are now propping each other up, shoulder to shoulder in front of the embers as Karl’s eyelids begin to droop. 

‘Whose turn is it?’ asks Yann through a yawn. He’s lying on his back in the long grass, his bare toes almost stretching to the water calmly lapping at the shore of the lake and one hand playing idly with his hair - newly cut this week for the interview he had on Tuesday for the flashy Ministry internship. He’ll hear back next week, but he’s got nothing to worry about.

‘Must be me, I’ve not had a turn in ages,’ answers Polly from his side. She reaches an arm across and pokes Yann gently in the ribs. He smiles and swats her hand away. 

‘You’ve had more turns than the rest of us put together, darling. But fine, I can’t think of anything anyway.’ 

Polly smirks in satisfaction and turns to the other boys. ‘Truth or dare?’ Her eyes are glinting and it’s not just the reflection of the fire.

Craig nudges Karl and his eyes snap open again. ‘I wasn’t sleeping!’

Polly raises an eyebrow. ‘Sure.’

‘Dare,’ says Craig, a hint of boldness in his voice. They’ve known each other for years, but dares from Polly always carry an element of risk no matter how much she likes you. 

Polly winds a strand of grass around her finger as she thinks. ‘Dare you to…’ She reaches for the wand sticking out of her bag, wafts it lazily towards the lake and they all watch as a flimsy-looking platform made of short planks bobs to the surface, a few pieces of weed slipping from its wet sides. ‘Go sit on that for ten minutes.’

Craig looks wary. ‘Me? What is it?’ 

‘One of the old diving platforms. They don’t use them much anymore.’ Polly eyes Craig and Karl over the flames. ‘Either of you. Both of you.’ Her expression turns impish. 

Craig leans in to Karl and they start a hurried argument under their breath, which seems to be something about Craig having done a dare last, but Karl being really rather afraid of deep water so it doesn’t seem fair that he should have to do this one. 

Yann rolls onto his side and looks up at Polly while the other boys debate. ‘Never seen those before,’ he says, gesturing to the floating platform, ‘Are there many?’

Polly nods. ‘Nine or ten I think, all tethered to a chain and anchor on the bottom. Freddy Weasley told me they used to use them for swimming lessons but the giant squid got rowdy one year and they stopped them, haven’t been used since.’

‘Probably bollocks then, if it’s Weasley,’ Yann says with a shrug.

‘It checks out.’ Polly is equally dismissive. ‘Will you two make a decision, for the love of god.’

A couple more hurried whispers and a disgruntled sigh later, and Craig is reluctantly pushing himself to his feet, glowering at Karl as he does so. Karl responds with his most charming smile. ‘Thank youuu,’ he sings, and Craig rolls his eyes. 

‘How do I even get onto that?’ Craig asks as he pulls up at the edge of the water. The tiny platform is at least ten feet away from him. Karl is looking very pleased with himself.

‘Swim, you idiot,’ Yann calls. 

Craig pulls a face. He likes swimming, used to take his sister to the local muggle pool during summer holidays when they were younger, but even in summer the lake water is dark and murky. ‘I’ll get soaked,’ he grumbles, preparing to take a step into the water nonetheless. 

‘Craig!’ Karl half-shouts, and Craig whirls around to face him, one foot hovering over the water, wobbling dangerously. ‘Wait, I’ll come too,’ he says, scrambling to his feet, ‘And take your shoes off at least.’

Craig looks down at his shoes as if noticing them for the first time. The trainers are old, but pristine, and he takes a step back to undo the laces as Karl rushes down to the edge of the water, kicking off his own shoes in random directions and pulling off his shirt. Craig turns as he approaches. ‘Are you sur-’

‘I’m just gonna go for it!’ Karl yells, plunging into the water without stopping and making Craig throw up his hands to shield himself from the splash. 

‘You didn’t have to get half-naked!’ Craig shouts, watching Karl with an expression somewhere between despair and admiration. 

‘Don’t want to get my clothes soaked!’ Karl calls back, his words just audible over the almighty splashing. He’s frantically windmilling his arms and kicking towards the platform. 

Craig pulls a face and hovers for a second, debating whether he wants to remove his neat button-down shirt, but in the end decides to wade forward as he is, the ripples from Karl’s flailing lapping at his legs as he moves forward. 

Yann watches in disbelief. ‘ _Why_ is he going in fully-dressed?’ he says, mostly to himself.

Polly’s trying to disguise a genuine smile as she looks towards her friends. ‘It’s Craig, he’s a weirdo. Hardly news, is it?’

Yann smirks and leans back, hands behind his head, a little closer to Polly. They watch as Craig steadily lifts his feet and begins swimming slowly, deliberately to the platform, giving Karl a wide berth as he continues to flap his arms and splash around. They make it to the diving platform around the same time, and Karl flings both arms across it, heaving himself up onto the small surface and wobbling so much it almost capsizes. Craig treads water at his side until Karl extends a hand and roughly pulls Craig up alongside him. Polly tries not to laugh as they fidget and squabble, shoving one another back and forth to make space on the narrow planks. Twice, Karl almost topples backwards into the lake, and twice he screeches at the top of his voice and clutches at Craig to steady himself. 

‘You!’ Karl yells back at Polly, once the platform has finally stopped bobbing around wildly, ‘You are _mean!_ This is horrible! Isn’t it?’ He turns to Craig for back-up and the sudden movement almost tips them over again. Craig flings out an arm for balance, showering droplets of water back out over the surface of the lake from his sopping shirt. 

‘It’s not the nicest place to sit,’ he says. 

Yann’s smirk grows wider, and Polly suspects it’s mostly masking relief that he’s not the one wobbling around on the lake. ‘Get over yourselves,’ she calls to the boys, ‘Your turn now anyway!’

‘Oh thank you, Queen Polly, for granting your lowly subjects their very own turn! So gracious!’ Karl is kneeling at the very edge of the platform, gripping onto the side with one hand and waving the other in a kind of sarcastic bowing gesture. 

‘He’s got a point,’ Yann interjects from beside Polly.

‘Piss off,’ she replies.

‘Truth or dare?’ Craig asks through gritted teeth as the platform rocks from side to side. 

Polly shrugs, unphased by either option. ‘Truth!’

Craig and Karl drop their voices and mutter to each other for a few seconds, debating on the juiciest question they dare to ask. 

Yann props himself up on one elbow, reaching for a strand of Polly’s hair where it’s fanned out across the grass. He rolls it softly in his fingers, then separates it into three and starts to plait. 

‘We’ve got one!’ Karl shouts eventually.

‘Shoot!’

Craig and Karl snigger to themselves for a second, then Karl clears his throat. ‘If you had to, er- if you had to _kiss_ one of us three-’ he gestures to himself, Craig and Yann, ‘Which one of us would you kiss?’

Polly narrows her eyes. ‘Erm, Yann? Isn’t that a bit obvious?’ 

Karl is looking at her open-mouthed, and Craig’s expression is distinctly surprised. ‘Obvious?’ Karl asks.

Polly glances down for a second to Yann at her side - he doesn’t seem to have even noticed the conversation, and the plait is almost at the ends of her hair. ‘Well, yeah,’ she replies, shifting her attention back to Karl, ‘Why would I kiss either of you?’

Craig bristles at that. ‘There’s no need to be _rude_.’ His knuckles are white where he’s holding on to the slippery wood of the platform. 

Polly is even more bemused. ‘How is that rude?’

‘Well, I know Yann is the…’ Craig tails off, searching for the right word.

‘The handsome one,’ Karl supplies.

‘Yeah, the handsome one!’ Craig continues indignantly, ‘But you didn’t have to sound quite so repulsed by the idea of snogging us two!’

Yann looks up, finally roused from his concentration by the mention of his name. ‘She’s not repulsed, she’s just not dating you. What’s the big deal?’ He shakes his head in amusement.

‘Oh, and she’s obviously dating you, isn’t she?’ Karl shouts across the water, kneeling up and placing his hands on his hips, his tone mocking. 

Polly and Yann are silent for a second and exchange a silent, _what-are-they-on-about_ look. ‘Uh, yes?’ Polly says. 

‘Ha, ha, ha! Very funny guys,’ Karl says, rolling his eyes. 

Craig sighs and echoes his friend. ‘Yeah, ha ha, great joke, Yann’s so much more dateable than either of us, woohoo.’

Yann and Polly stay silent, unsure if what they think is happening is actually happening. 

Karl puts on a high-pitched voice and starts to mime fanning himself. ‘Ooooh Yann, won’t you please kiss me, oooh Yann you’re so _dreamy-’_ He stops short when he gets a nudge in the ribs from Craig, who is looking towards the lake shore with a dumbfounded expression. 

‘Are you two… serious?’ Craig asks, his voice rather louder than he intended. 

Polly sits upright, shaking her hair back over her shoulders and looking between the confused expressions facing her from the wobbly platform on the lake. ‘Well, yeah,’ she says hesitantly, ‘But you guys already knew that. Right?’

Karl’s eyes are wide and water droplets are dripping from his hair and splashing down his chest as he shakes his head. ‘Wait, _what?_ You-’ he points at Polly, ‘-and you-’ he points at Yann, ‘Are a _thing?’_

Yann is sitting up now too, leaning forward on his knees. ‘Yes!’ he says, impatient, ‘This isn’t news!’

‘Isn’t _news?_ ’ Karl screeches, ‘Quite the opposite mate, this is huge! When were you planning to tell us?!’

Craig seems to have lapsed into a stunned silence, and can only gape open-mouthed between Karl and Yann and Polly in turn. 

‘What do you mean, tell you? You already know!’ Polly yells back, waving an arm for emphasis. 

‘Already know?’ Karl splutters incredulously, ‘ _Already know?_ ’

Craig seems to have finally found the ability to form words again. ‘Do these look like the reactions of two people who _already knew_ their best friends were dating?’ 

Polly and Yann stare at each other, then back at their friends flailing precariously on the diving platform, then back at each other. 

‘We did-’ Polly begins.

‘Definitely-’ Yann cuts in.

‘Must have told them.’ Polly doesn't sound certain at all. 

‘What are you _saying_?’ Karl bellows at them, and Craig makes a high-pitched wailing noise as the platform rocks more than ever, splashing murky lake water back up at them.

Yann is starting to lose his patience. ‘Well it’s not like we’ve been hiding it! It’s been long enough!’

‘It _has_?’ Now it’s Craig’s turn to shout. ‘How long has it been?!’

Polly can only stare at them in disbelief. 

Yann speaks for the both of them. ‘Mate, like… a year and a half? Two years?’

‘ _WHAT?_ ’ shrieks Craig, throwing both hands in the air.

‘Are you _fucking-’_ yells Karl, stopping short to catch his balance as he tried to stagger to a standing position on the perilous platform.

‘We very much are,’ Yann whispers under his breath to Polly. She punches him in the arm.

‘Are you fucking _kidding me?_ ’ Karl shouts as he finally gets to his feet. ‘Two YEARS? And you never once thought to tell your friends, your _best_ friends, that you were… together?!’

Polly holds her head in her hands for a second, vaguely hysterical. ‘What were we supposed to say? Just turn up to the common room one day and go, oh, haven’t you heard? We’re banging! Just wanted to make sure you were aware!’

Craig turns a deep shade of crimson and Karl splutters incomprehensibly for a few seconds before he manages to form actual words. ‘Maybe not those exact words, you sociopath! But some heads-up would have been nice!’

‘We gave you plenty of heads-up!’ Yann is getting to his feet now too, ‘You can’t possibly have not known!’

Craig has been muttering to himself (something that sounds like ‘oh my god, oh my god’ over and over) but now he looks up at Yann. ‘Is this why you two are always… holding hands?’

Yann makes a kind of exasperated gesture with his hands, as if he was shaking Craig’s shoulders from across the water. ‘Yes! And why I call her darling, and-’

‘You call everyone darling!’ Karl interjects.

‘You do,’ Polly says from down at Yann’s side, 'Darling.’ She winks. 

Yann rolls his eyes. ‘Fine! But did you think we were holding hands as _friends?’_

Craig nods slowly. An expression is dawning over Karl’s face and he looks like he’s having an epiphany. ‘All those times you go for study sessions together?’

‘Some of those are actual studying, to be fair.’ Yann shrugs.

‘Yeah, but some aren’t,’ Polly says, unable to resist.

Craig is wobbling to his feet on the platform now too, his soaking shirt and shorts plastered to him and still dripping. ‘And why you always sit together on that one big armchair in the common room?’

Yann looks vaguely amused at that being the thing he picks up on. ‘Yes, and that.’

‘Oh my _god_. It has been this whole time, hasn’t it?’ Craig looks aghast, turning to face Karl slowly, his arms outstretched to stop himself toppling into the lake. 

‘But it can’t be! It’s not like they’ve been snogging, or-’

‘We hardly want to be making out in full view of half the school all the time, do we?’ Polly interrupts haughtily, ‘We’ve got some class.’

That shuts them up. Craig and Karl stand, drenched, clinging onto one another, and bobbing up and down on the little diving platform, with matching expressions of dismay and shock.

Yann starts laughing at the ridiculousness of it all. ‘You really didn’t know?’

‘No!’ they say in exasperated unison.

Yann meets Polly’s eyes and the corners of her mouth begin to twitch. ‘But we talk to people about it all the time,’ she said doubtfully.

‘Well you never said anything to _us!’_ Karl shouts, his voice echoing out across the lake in the darkness. 

‘Oops,’ says Yann under his breath. 

Polly lets out an undignified snort of laughter and claps a hand over her mouth. ‘I’m sorry,’ she says, her voice getting higher, ‘We thought you’d realised ages ago.’

‘It’s not our fault.’ Craig sounds disgruntled, and folds his arms across his chest. Karl mirrors him a second later and they stand like grumpy twins, trying very hard to maintain their stern expressions while also wobbling around on the water. 

It’s too much for Polly, and after a second or two another loud laugh escapes her, and then Yann’s shoulders are shaking and they’re collapsing against each other in a fit of giggles. Craig and Karl get even crosser, and they’re shaking their heads and glaring, and it shouldn’t be as funny as it is, but the sight of them huddled together on the little platform in the lake, dripping, half-undressed, is somehow the funniest thing Polly has ever seen. 

‘Right, that’s it!’ Karl shouts, losing his patience, ‘I’m coming back over there!’

‘Yeah!’ Craig pipes up, sounding less certain, ‘We don’t have to stay up here when you’re being mean!’

They stay in position for a second, looking down and around at the water surrounding them as though they’re hoping a handy bridge to the shore will have materialised in the last fifteen seconds. It hasn’t. Craig tries to balance on his left foot and lean down to test the water with the toes of his right, clinging to Karl’s arm for support, but Karl doesn’t notice, and closes his eyes to pluck up the courage for a plunge back into the lake. Craig realises a split second too late and doesn’t quite manage to let go, and they tumble into the glassy water together with simultaneous shouts. Polly and Yann’s sides are hurting from their laughter, and they desperately try to regain their breath as Karl and Craig splash to the shore and stagger upright again. 

‘It’s not _funny!’_ Karl splutters, shaking slimy lake weed off his leg and showering water around him. Craig is trying to wring out some of the excess water from the hem of his shirt. 

‘It’s a little bit funny,’ Yann manages to say, wiping tears of laughter from the corners of his eyes. 

Karl remains stubborn. ‘Is not.’

‘Oh come on, if that had been us,’ Polly gestures to the lake and the diving platform which now floated empty and slick with water, ‘You two wouldn’t have let us hear the end of it for days.’

Craig looks up from his shirt, his expression grumpy but understanding. 

Yann sticks his hands in his pockets and ventures, ‘Well, you know now at least.’

They’re facing each other in pairs now, the little campfire still crackling on the grass and the lights of Hogwarts reflecting in the lake, its ripples stilling. 

‘Aren’t you even a little bit happy for us?’ Polly asks, her eyes wide, her tone deliberately sweet. 

Craig and Karl look at each other for a moment, and both sigh. 

‘I guess it’s kind of sweet,’ Craig mumbles, looking bashful. He almost looks as though he might be contemplating hugging Yann and Polly, but then the moment is broken by-

 _Thwack._

‘Argh!’ 

‘So _there!’_ Karl pulls back his arm to aim another wad of wet pond weed at Yann. He’s still trying to shake the first one off from where it’s hit him in the side of the face, and doesn’t manage to duck out of the way in time. Another squelchy-sounding _thwack_. 

‘And you!’ Karl bends to pick up more slimy weeds from the edge of the lake and rounds on Polly, who screeches and immediately pulls Yann in front of her as a human shield. ‘I’m happy for you!’ Karl bellows, launching the next handful of weeds and hitting Yann in the chest this time, ‘But you brought this’ - _thwack_ \- ‘upon yourselves! Craig, you idiot, come on!’ 

Craig springs into action at Karl’s command and scoops up a handful of half-weed, half-mud, launching it in Polly’s direction and missing her by several inches. Yann and Polly both yell again and bolt in opposite directions - Polly to the lake, Yann running for the cover of the nearest tree. 

‘Arseholes!’ Yann cries over his shoulder.

Polly is already lunging for handfuls of mud. ‘You’re going down, Jenkins!’ She’s faster than any of the boys and manages a solid hit to the back of Karl’s head before he can turn to face her. 

Craig tries to back Karl up but even together, they’re barely a match for Polly and she darts around them, dodging and ducking and landing hit after hit, her clothes splattering with mud she hardly notices. After a minute, Yann pokes his head out from behind the tree with an exasperated, ‘Are you finished yet?’ and all three pause, their thoughts converging, then charge forward in unison to pelt Yann with handfuls of slimy pond weed and mud. 

Shrieks of mock terror and peals of laughter mingle in the warm night air and they all know that their misunderstandings are forgiven. Once they’re covered from head to toe in mud and slime, they eventually give in and drift back to the fire to dry off, feeling physically gross but with a strange sense of peace settling over them as they lie on their backs in the grass. 

‘Wasn’t really how I expected this evening to go,’ Yann muses into the comfortable silence, watching the sparks of the fire tail up into dark sky and shine alongside the stars. 

‘When did anything with us lot ever turn out the way you expected?’ Karl replies sleepily, and they each smile to themselves. 

‘No more secrets now, though,’ Craig says, looking down at his shoes as he carefully scrapes mud off them with a stick. 

Polly nods. ‘No more secrets. Although that one wasn’t intentional, so it doesn’t really count.’

Yann yawns and stretches his arms up to the sky, then flops them down at his sides. ‘Hold my hand, _darling_ ,’ he says, dragging out the final word in a deep, exaggerated voice, and turning to face Polly. She rolls her eyes fondly and reaches out to lace their fingers together.

‘Nuh uh, no way,’ Karl says, from the other side of the fire, ‘If you two are holding hands, we all are.’ He flings his arms out to either side and grabs Yann’s hand on his left and Craig’s on his right. Craig grins and completes the chain, abandoning his almost-mud-free trainers and taking Polly’s hand. 

‘You’re all idiots,’ Polly says, laughing in spite of herself, and they lie together hand in hand around the fire, gazing sleepily at the stars, as the lights of Hogwarts twinkle above them and over the distant treetops of the forest, the warm glow of dawn begins to break.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you Kat for the inspo behind this one! It was my first time writing the gang, and it was a lot of fun. Hope you enjoy 😘
> 
> Find me on Twitter/Tumblr @trolleybitch 💜


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